Method of concentrating ore by flotation.



G. GRUNDAL.

METHOD 0F GONCENTRATING ORE BY FLOTATION. APPLICATION meu nu. 1s. 191s.

Patented Oct. 24, 1916.

/NVENTO UNITED STATES PATENT .oEEIoE GUSTAF GRNDAL, OF DJURSHOLM, SWEDEN, ASSIGNOR T0 BER, SONDHEIMER & C0., OF FRANKFORTON-THE-M,AIN, GERMANY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 24, 1911i.

Application tiled January 18, 1916. Serial No. 72,757.

'0 all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, GUSTAE Gnnoaii, a subject ot' the King of Sweden, and resident of Djursholm, Sweden, have invented a certain new and useful Improved Method oi.' Concentrating Ore by Flotatiou, of which the followingh a specification.

ln using the known oil jdotation method for concentrating very finely suinlitided ore materialsv it has been found that the oil docs not woll nioistcn allthe particles. iliihorto the oil has been brought into intiinatest possible Contact with the particles of minerai by means ot stirring. The grains of min eral not moistcned by the oil generally are lost, By long experiments l have succeeificd in removingr the difiiculty o'F inoistening the subdivided material with oil.

My invention consists in distributing the oil in a streaming` elastic Huid under pressure such as steam or air and afterward mixing the steam or air under pressure with its contents of oil with a large rnlantity of au elastic fluid such as air or any other gas and then pressing the nurture into water holding;r the orc powder sl peuded. In this manner an emulsion is priuluoed7 whereby, when. the is driven through this emul sion, there` is created a large number of air bubbles each surrfnnuicd by a thin film of oil, which bubbles when pressed through the suspended ore coule with their oily films in Contact with the respective particles of ore which then become rnoistened with oil. By the extremely energetic stirring caused by blowin, ;r the inibbles through the suspended oro a new technical result is obtained as in order to attain the object aimed at one need only use a very small proportion of oil.

A forni of apparatus suitable for carry ing,r the method into ctfcct is shown on the accompanying drawing as an example only.

The figure shows a vertical section ,through the apparatus.

By means ot' a pipe a the necessary quantity of oil is 'fed into a l'rting steam jet apparatus beneath or near the mouth of a steam conduit c from a source of steam not shown. The steam under pressure during its passage through draws in a large quantity of air. The mixture of air and steam mixed with oil is then pressed through the pipe c provided with a funnel shaped outlet d into the reservoir f, said reservoir by means of the pipe g] opening above the funnel f being continually fed with ore powder sus.

pendcd in water.

YIn the reservoir f an energetic inter|nixturc is elfected by which thc oil comes into intimate contact with the mineral ot orc, :tir in abundant quantity beingr present thc oiiy particles of ore fioat up tothe surface. Uver the partition the mixture ot ore thus treated ilows to the Clllow cone r" troni 'which the ore concentrate flows oliP over the overfiow /if into the channel l and the refuse through a valve `m. lf required the refuse is led into a similar apparatus and` is treated once more in the manner described a bore.

In the following claims I use the phrase gaseous medium in a sense broad enough to include steam, air or other elastic Huid subject to compression.

I claim l. The flotation method consistingr in pro" jecting a heated gaseous current having a selective agent diffusedtherein against lan opposed current or ore pulp, and collecting by flotation the particles thereby difierentiated.

il. The method herein described of concentrating finely divided ore b Y means ot' oi! dotation, said method consisting, essentially. in first distributing oil in a stream of heaty ed gas under pressure and thereby atomizing the'oil, then utilizing the How of the gas oil to commingle therewith' a large quan.- tity of another gas, and forcing the gasoil lmixture thus formed into a liquid against a countercurrent of finely divided ore.

3. The fiotation process herein described which consists, essentially, in atomizing an oleaginous agent by the action of a gaseous medium under pressure and producing iereby a gaseous suspension; utilizing thc ow of the gaseous suspension to induce the commingling therewith of a large body of another gas; and4 injectin the combined gaseous fluid into a hydrau ic body against a cou'nteriow of pulverized ore particles.

4. The dotation process herein described which consists,V essentially, in atomizing an oleaginous agent by the action of a heated gaseous medium to atomize said agent and produce therefrom a gaseous suspension; utilizing the How of said gaseous suspension tif) to induce the cnmnnglng thermvth mi" :l ,muuu to ths speccntiun, in the px'escncv of lsu-ge volume of nnothvl' "asemls medium; two .suhsurlblng witnesses.

h and prujcctmg the cmnbnwd Huul up- C n -w r' T v wUSlAI* (1L `DA wurdly L hrnugh a yhydmulm body and Oh L 5 ngulnst J countcruvfmf pulvurlxud um pul'- Wltnusscs:

tlcles. Y FRANK. LYON, In testimony whcl'uuf l have slgncd my hmm lumN, 

